The Lonely
by FatallyUnique
Summary: One, two three four, The Lonely comes knocking on her door. Five, six, seven, eight, can it save her before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

AN: I hope you enjoy the story! This is my NaNoWriMo project this year so you can expect numerous updates, hopefully long. Reviews are welcome and will be rewarded!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

As the Hogwarts Express chugged away from the platform, Dominique Weasley let out a contented sigh. She way beyond ready for her final year at Hogwarts. She looked around slowly, soaking up her surroundings.

Fred and James were most likely causing havoc and testing out Uncle George's latest products. They were both right up there with the best prankers the school has ever seen, along with the Marauders and her Uncle George and his late twin Fred. The fellow Gryffindors were also entering their last year at school. Fred and James planned to follow in their parent's footsteps after graduation. Fred was going to take over his family's franchise, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes while James hoped to become a professional Chaser, preferably for Puddlemore United. While Dominique loved them both dearly, they often made her go slightly bonkers.

In the compartment across from her own, Roxanne, Molly, and Lucy were animatedly talking about a muggle book they had all just finished, "Pride and Prejudice". Much like their father, Molly and Lucy strictly believed in rules and order. They had learned to loosen up a tad, but not much. They had both been sorted into Hufflepuff to the disbelief of the entire family. It had been said on numerous occasions that they were the most cold-hearted Hufflepuffs out there, behind Zacharias Smith of course. Roxanne had somehow pushed the accusations aside and still talked to them regularly unlike Dominique's other cousins. Though they might all be family, everyone clearly did not like Uncle Percy's section of the family tree very much. Even Gran's smile falters slightly whenever she see's them. Nevertheless, Roxanne had maintained a close relationship with them. Being a rule-abiding Gryffindor, she had the heart of a lion with the personality of her parents combined, without breaking the rules. Roxanne and Molly were both in their seventh year and Lucy was entering her fifth as a prefect.

Out of the corner of her eye, Dominique could make out her favorite cousin Rose sitting rather close to an honorary Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy. Sitting opposite to them was another of her cousins, Albus. The three of them made an unbreakable trio, never doing anything without the other two. They all were entering year six with Rose and Scorpius being prefects for Gryffindor. When news of the three of them first becoming friends back in their first year, the combined anger almost made The Burrow erupt. The worst out of them all was by far Dominique's uncle, Ron. He looked ready to murder the Malfoy boy for coming near his baby girl. After Albus and Rose brought Scorpius home for Christmas and showed the family that he wasn't anything like his father or grandfather did he finally started to accept their friendship. Dominique highly suspected that another full-blown outburst from him was going to make an appearance in the near future. It was clear to all the women in the family that Rose and Scorpius would eventually start dating. They had even had made a betting pool to see who could most closely guess the time when they would start. Dominique had bet on November of this year.

Though she couldn't see them, she could most certainly hear the distinct voices of her two youngest cousins and her brother, Lily, Hugo, and Louis. Even though Louis was a year older than the two fourth year Gryffindors, he spent most of his time with them. Louis, like Dominique's older sister Victoire, had been sorted into Ravenclaw. To the delight of the family, he had made Lysander and Lorcan Scamander, twin sons of great family friend Luna Scamander, his two best mates. Hugo didn't talk much and that's what Dominique liked best about him. When the entire family was a lot like a raging fire, Hugo was a soft cool stream of water. He was always steady, always calm. He never lashed out at anybody unless they made fun of his family in anyone. Then you better stand back because Hugo has a mean right hook, which he made good use of after Emmanuel Zabini started to call Rose some undesirable names. Rounding off the group was Lily, sneaky, cunning Lily. According to her, the Sorting Hat almost placed her into Slytherin. While she does carry some traits of the once dark house, her fiery temper and unmatched bravery outweighed the Slytherin characteristics in her.

Then there was Dominique. She had chosen a small compartment that was the perfect size for herself, her best friend since their first year Irina Aleggory, and Ben Hall, other best friend and boyfriend. All of them were in Gryffindor together, effectively ruling the school along with Dominique's cousins.

"Domi," Irina said impatiently while tapping on her arm. Dominique blinked a couple times rapidly and turned her attention to Irina. Her black hair framed her porcelain face rather nicely and her exceedingly blue eyes were looking at Dominique in an annoyed fashion.

"What did I miss?" Dominique asked.

"You've been gazing around dreamily the entire ride. You have spoken a word to us for almost an hour now."

"Us?" Dominique asked, her voice going up an octave. She then noticed the built arm around her shoulders protectively. She turned her head to the right and saw Ben's smiling face looking down at her.

"Yes, the both us," Ben said with a smirk planted on his cute face. His dirty blonde hair swept over his forehead and grazed her softly as he leaned down to give her a gentle kiss on the nose.

"When did you guys come in here?" Dominique asked after she recovered from a Weasley blush.

"Wow you really were out of it, weren't you Domi? We came in here right after we gave our speech in the Prefect's compartment," Irina answered. Dominique's cheery mode turned cloudy after remembering that Irina and Ben were the Head Boy and Girl this year. They both would be living the special Head tower from now. Dominique frowned when she realised she would have the dormitory to herself this year. Well, Roxanne would be there but she usually went up to the boy's dorms and slept with her long-time boyfriend Daryl Overland. It would be so quiet in the dorm from now on. So lonely.

"Oh yeah, I forgot…" Dominique's voice faded into the air. Noticing what she was most likely thinking about, Irina sat down next to her and patted her arm reassuringly.

"Hey, just because I won't be in the dorm with you, doesn't mean we won't see each other," Irina said firmly.

"Same goes for me," Ben started out. "Irina and me being Head's isn't going to change in our relationship. I love you."

"I love you too," Dominique looked back and forth between her two best friends and then smiled. "You right, nothing is going to change."

For the rest of the long trip, the three of them discussed how they spent their summer, what Quidditch was going to do the best the next year, and the latest gossip they had heard, much to Ben's complete disappointment. Just as they were diving into the topic of Laura MacMillan's and Avery Vick's nasty break-up, it was announced that they had arrived.

Dominique, Irina, and Ben arrived in the Great Hall walking side-by-side-by-side. They took their seats at the Gryffindor table and continued their previous conversation as students filed in.

"I heard that he broke up with her over owl and her dad got angry that he went after him," Irina whispered into Dominique's ear.

"No way!" Dominique screeched. "My uncle's and aunt's knew her dad. He never would have done-"

She was abruptly cut off when family friend Professor Longbottom opened two large wooden doors and revealed the nervous unsorted first years. Most of them sported a sickly shade of green on their faces. In silence, they walked up to the front of the giant room to find out what house they would be placed in.

As they were being sorted, Dominique's mind drifted off and began to think about other things, like her future. All of her cousins and friends knew what they were going to do after Hogwarts except her. Molly and Irina were going to jobs working for the ministry, Roxanne was applying to become the Professor Flitwick's teacher's aid, after which she would take over the position of Charm's professor, and Ben was going to be a Healer. They all knew where they were headed. Dominique tried to think of jobs that interested her, but came up short.

"Domi!" Irina said loudly.

"What?" Dominique asked startled.

"You missed the entire sorting!" Sure enough, new faces were at the end of each table.

"Oh, I guess I did," Dominique replied absent-mindedly.

"What's going on with you?" Irina asked confused before scooping up some mashed potatoes for her plate.

"Nothing," Dominique said quickly. "Really, I'm fine. Just being a bit spacey today."

"Alright," Irina said unsure and then started up a conversation with Ben.

Dominique ate her dinner in silence. After she ate a few morsels of food, she just sat on the wooden bench listening in on other people's conversations. When the feast had ended, Dominique left unobtrusively to her dorm without saying a word to Irina or Ben.

When Dominique entered her room, she couldn't help but notice how vacant it was and how vacant it would become. Unsurprisingly, Roxanne didn't even make an appearance, opting to go straight to the boy's dorm. Surrounding herself in her blankets, an unfamiliar felling swept over her. Neither welcomed nor unwelcomed, it seemed to comfort her. It cradled her as she tried to drift of to sleep. The feeing stayed with her until she closed her eyes, anxiously wanting the next day to come.

AN: Did you like? The next few chapters will bring a huge game changer that will really pick up the story. Would you be so lovely as to review?

PS: If any of you want, you can read my other story "Run As Fast as You Can" which is also a Next-Generation fanfiction. Shamelessly advertising here. Anyway PLEASE REVIEW!


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Chapter 2 folks! Thanks for your reviews and alerts! They mean so much to me. I really hope you like this chapter. I'll probably be posting the next chapter tomorrow or on Sunday. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 2

While Dominique entered a peaceful a sleep, a shadowy figure wrapped her in a blanket of comfort. It caressed her pale skin gently, delighting in the texture. The shadowed figure smiled mischievously as it entered her mind and saw her deepest fears. Chuckling softly, it realized it had found its latest prey. Placing a kiss on her forehead, the figure was swallowed into the darkness.

Dominique arose the next morning with a strange feeling in the bottom of her stomach. Her heart beat in an irregular pattern as she mad her way to the laboratory. Looking in front of the mirror, he heart stopped all together as she noticed a small patch of particularly white skin on her forehead. As her fingertips grazed the area, her body internally shuddered and she suddenly felt sick. Immediatley drawing her hand away, the lurching feeling in her stomach was gone. Brushing off the strange event, she prepared for her first day of classes, applying make up to the pale skin.

As she entered the Great Hall, she saw that nearly everyone was already eating and having their own private conversations. Suddenly feeling out of place, she quickly grabbed an apple and fled the crowded room.

Heading towards the courtyard, she wondered what made her acting like this. Not once in all her seventeen years did she recoil at the sight of people. In fact, she embraced people and the social aspect of life. In the Great Hall though, she felt…claustrophobic. She felt trapped in her own skin and was too afraid to go up and approach someone. Something inside of her was fighting the urge to go talk to her friends. For the first time ever, she felt isolated from the world.

"Hey!" Dominique immediatley recognized the sweet yet fiery voice of Irina.

"Hey," Dominique replied half-heartedly. An instinct to flee kicked in but Dominique stayed her ground.

"What happened back their? I was waving at you to come but you stared at the room like a deer in headlights," Irina said.

"I just, um, became overwhelmed by the fact that this was my last second day at Hogwarts," Dominique lied shakily.

"Oh, okay," Irina said relieved, missing Dominique's lie. "I was spending the entire night reminiscing about the past. I don't think I ever got any sleep."

"It's so strange. Hogwarts has been my home away from home for such a long time. I remember thinking when I was a first year that this year would never come. Now that it has, I still don't believe it, " Dominique admitted shakily.

"Neither do I. But let's go make the best of it. Come one, we have to go inside to get our time tables." Irina held her hand out, intending for Dominique to clasp on.

"Alrighty," Dominique replied while taking her hand. In the middle of their slightly depressing conversation, she had managed to regain her momentum. Together, they practically skipped their way back inside the castle.

"Is it supposed to be this color?" Onya Yaskcivya, a Hufflepuff, asked.

"NO, it's supposed to be a pea green, not a teal," Ben answered her question.

Dominique continued to work on their NEWT level potion that was supposed to be able to make the drinker see his dreams right in front of him. Though she wondered where this potion would ever be useful, she carried on with Ben and hers potion.

"Hey Blue? Can you hand me the clear vial please. I think we are ready to turn in our potion," Ben asked Dominique, using the special nickname he concocted just for her.

"Here you go," Dominique said while placing the vial in his hand. He carefully ladled some of the pea green potion in. Right before he was about to screw on the top, Professor Engywook stopped him abruptly.

"Ah, finally a pair that has been able to perfectly brew together the potion! Would we like a demonstration?" He asked the class and everyone nodded their head in response. "That's what I though. How about…Dominique! You should be able to enjoy the pleasures of your work."

Dominique gave him a half smile before receiving the vial.

"Now, I want you to drink the potion in one giant gulp," Professor Engywook said somewhat didactically. "Everyone stand back a little bit for her dreams are about to burst from the depths of her mind!"

Even though being startled and scared by his word choice, Dominique nevertheless gulped down the potion in one swift notion. The potion was quite bitter and had a nasty aftertaste. She cringed her face in disgust before widening her eyes uncontrollably. She felt like a dementor was sucking her dreams from the previous night right out of her. Right after she came back to reality, her dream was in full action and displayed in front of the entire NEWT level Potions class.

At first, Dominique saw herself wandering around a deserted alleyway without any sense of where to go next. Dominique stared at her dream confusedly; she did not remember this happening in her dreams last night. Her dream self was now eyeing a pair of people walking with fright in her eyes. To her dream self's great distress, the couple walked right through her without noticing a thing. This happened several more times before she ran away with tears in her eyes.

The dream next showed Dominique inside her dormitory dancing around at 2 o'clock in the morning. A hazy shadowed figure surrounded her, watching her every move intently. The dream Dominique however remained oblivious to the fact that she was being watched and continued to sway and twirl softly across the room. After a while, she went inside her bed and slept while the figure continued to watch her. The shadowed figure then bent over, placed a soft kiss on her hand, and then faded into the blackness. The figures then blurred together before they vanished into the air.

Every in Dominique's class slowly turned towards her and cocked an inquiring eye. Getting the same feeling as she did earlier in the morning, she grabbed her stuff and then bolted out the door just as the bell rang.

For the rest of the day, Dominique avoided communicating with any person at all. She went to class to class with people staring at her. Of course they had heard about her episode today, gossip spreads around like wildfire at Hogwarts. Dominique's usual self would have relished in the attention even though it wasn't the kind of attention most people look for. The usual Dominique would have played it coy and brushed the whole thing off. But this was the unusual Dominique where everything about her was the exact opposite of her usual self.

The next time a peep came out of her mouth was when dinner came. Against her own personal desires, Dominique decided to the Great Hall. Much to her relief, the room did not become quiet just because she arrived. She navigated her way to the spot Irina saved for her and sat down. Irina looked at her best friend thrilled and completely ignored the looks the other girls were giving to her as they had deemed Dominique a "freak". Irina and Dominique chatted amiably about their classes and whose death was predicted in Divination until the strong voice of Professor McGonagall was heard.

"Attention students, I would like to make an announcement," she said but some Slytherin boys made the foolish mistake to continue to talk. "ATTENTION!" Professor McGonagall bellowed and the boys quickly gave her their full, undivided attention.

"As I was trying to say," she said while eyeing the boys, "I was trying to make an announcement. After months of pleading by some students, Hogwarts will be having its first ever Homecoming Dance. Apparently, in the muggle world schools have dances to welcome their students back to another year of learning. The dance will be held on October 1st and only students that are in their fourth year or older may attend. That is all."

The room was quickly filled with squeals of joy from the girls and groans from the boys. Almost immediatley, the dynamic of every conversation changed to dresses and dates.

"I'm thinking about a pale blue dress for myself. What about you Domi? Domi? Dominique!" Irina shouted angrily while snapping her fingers in front of Dominique's eyes.

"Um yeah that would look great on you. I don't know, I'll find something at Hogsmeade I guess…" Dominique's voice trailed off into a whisper.

"You really are acting strange these days," Irina said before turning to the other Gryffindor ladies to discuss the importance of shoes. Dominique internally sighed and swirled her food around on her plate. After what seemed like an endless dinner, she headed to her dorm silently.

Enclosing herself in the scarlet and gold comforters, she briefly wondered if she would have any dreams like the one she apparently had the night before her. Sleep overcame her before she had time to really think about the subject. Unlike the night before, the bed didn't provide some strange warmth and comfort. The only occupant of her room that night was herself. But the figure will come back eventually. The Lonely always comes back.

AN: Did ya' likey? A review would be absolutely lovely . Virtual cookies for anyone who does! They might make me update even faster, who knows?


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